


A Crown

by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Character Development, Character Study, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-13 23:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7142564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiontales/pseuds/Goodluckdetective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loathing, tolerance, respect, and friendship.</p>
<p>Merill and Fenris throughout the years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Crown

It is year one and this is why he doesn’t like her: she’s a blood mage, and he’s a man who has spent years being tortured and controlled by another who bled other’s veins dry to keep his tiny throne of power.

It is year one and this is why she doesn’t like him: he’s dismissive of a past that is their history, a culture that belongs to him, one she has given up so much to persevere, and instead of understanding why this is more than just her life, he calls her a fool and treats her like a child.

They do not talk outside of their journeys with Hawke.

Both of them prefer it. 

* * *

It is year three and this is why he tolerates her: she is a blood mage but she only uses her own blood, and while she is a fool of the highest measure, she is a fool who has her heart in the right place. He doesn’t not trust her to practice magic, every man can fall to vice, but he trusts her to watch his back, and tell him when the guards are close to his house. When the Slavers come for him, ready to drag him back, she is one of the first to lash out with her magic to drive them to their graves. She doesn’t not look at him with pity. 

It is year three and this is why she tolerates him: he has gone through so much and his fear of magic makes sense, even though she hates to admit it. After learning of his past, of the man who kept him on a leash, she cannot fault him for being close minded towards blood magic, though she doesn’t approve of it either when he makes his displeasure vocal. On a spring day in the late afternoon, he comes to her about an Elvish word he does not understand. He wants to learn the language. And she wants to teach him. 

They talk once a month, not as friends, but as comrades. When they throw small gatherings, each other is invited. 

It is something close to acceptance. 

* * *

It is year six and this is why he respects her: because for all his doubts of her being a fool, she was not the one to crumble to pride, she took precautions to prevent herself from becoming a monster, and while he despises her choice, he knows she is not ignorant of consequences. She protects the elves hunted by slavers in the city with her magic despite the consequences,  and when guards come down to beat on those less strong, she goes out to shout at them into fleeing. She is perhaps one of the best at Wicked Grace, and over the years as she teaches you Elvish, she never mocks your progress. When Danarius comes and the past rushes back at him, she uses her blood magic to break the ties of others he is attempting to control. She shouts abuse at him. And she doe not let him get close to Fenris until Fenris pushes forward to fight.  

It is year six and this is why she respects him: because he has an interest in her culture for all she thought otherwise, and while he has no urge to be a part of it, he wants to understand it, understand others, and that is a leap away from what she ever expected. He helps smuggle letters to mages in the Gallows from loved ones, because while he thinks they belong in Circles, he does not believe they need to be cut off from the outside world entirely. When a mage elf is found among a crowd of freed slaves and Hawke is not there to put down their word, his call is to give them the choice to join the Circle or to leave the city, on just the first one. He watches the Templars change and does not approve, not blind to the corruption despite his own reasonable fears. One week after her Keeper dies, after he calls her an idiot, when he comes by for lessons, he brings flowers. Says he does not apologize for his opinion, but apologizes for the loss and the insult. They are daisies.

* * *

The Chantry is in ruins, they are on the run, and this is why he likes her: she gives him a crowd made of flowers from some daisies she found in the field and tells him it looks “fetching.”

The Chantry is in ruins, they are on the run, and this is why she likes him: he wears it. 

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted these two to grow together as the game went on and understand each other some more, but alas, jossed. But I think my version is pretty accurate to what could have been.


End file.
